AP American Govt Unit 1 Vocab
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34 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Unalienable | a human right based on nature or god - can't be taken away |
| Articles of Confederation | each state retained its sovereignty and independance, had one vote in congress, and the central/national government was really weak |
| Constitutional Convention | meeting of delegates in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation, which produced the new U.S. Constitution |
| Shay's Rebellion | this conflict in Massachusetts caused many to criticize the Articles of Confederation and admit the weak central government was not working; uprising led by Daniel Shays in an effort to prevent courts from foreclosing on the farms of those who could not pay the taxes |
| Virginia Plan | Initial proposal at the Constitutional Convention made by the Virginia delegation for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature dominated by the big states. |
| New Jersey Plan | New Jersey delegate William Paterson's plan of government, in which states got an equal number of representatives in Congress |
| Great Compromise | Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature (Senate) and representation based on population in the other house (House of Representatives) |
| Republic | a government in which elected representatives make the decisions |
| Judicial Review | the power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional |
| Federalism | government authority shared by national and local governments |
| Enumerated Powers | powers given to the national government alone |
| Checks and Balances | authority shared by the 3 branches of government to make sure none of them would gain more power than another |
| Concurrent Powers | powers shared by the national and state governments |
| Reserved Powers | powers given to the state governments alone |
| Faction | a group with a distinct political interest |
| Federalists | those who favored a stronger national government |
| Anti-Federalists | those who favored a weaker national government |
| Coalition | an alliance of factions |
| Bill of Rights | the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791 |
| Habeas Corpus | an order to produce an arrested person before a judge |
| Bill of Attainer | a law that declares a person, without a trial, to be guilty of a crime |
| Ex Post Facto Law | makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed |
| authority | The right to use power |
| bureaucratic view | View that the government is dominated by appointed officials |
| democracy | The rule of the many |
| direct (participatory) democracy | A government in which all or most citizens participate directly |
| elite | Persons who posses a disproportionate share of some valued resource, like money or power |
| legitimacy | Political authority conferred by law or by a state or a national constitution |
| Marxist view | View that the government is dominated by capitalists |
| power elite view | View that the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside the government |
| pluralist view | The belief that competition among all affected interests shapes public policy |
| power | The ability of one person to cause another person to act in accordance to the first persons intentions |
| power elite | A political theory espoused by C. Wright Mills which holds that an elite of corporate leaders, top military officers, and key political leaders make most political decisions |
| representative democracy | A government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular vote |
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